(I’m American and am aware that different states have different tests).
In: 23
The bar exam is a closed book test on several areas of the law, which is just an immense amount of knowledge. Actual lawyers typically only work in one or two areas of law and still have to research everything because it’s just too much to know.
Law school kind of prepares you for the bar exam. Everyone is required to take the same classes in the first year and those classes are all on the bar. There are other classes that are covered on the bar and you can choose to take them over the next two years. Some schools really want to help prepare you to pass, but some schools think they’re too good for that and others are just out to get your money. Most people rely on test prep companies and spend a couple months studying. It’s kind of like cramming for a mega-final for all the classes you took three years ago plus some extra classes you never actually took. It’s really hard.
The test is usually two days. I know Texas does three. One day is multiple choice, which sounds chill but I guarantee you it isn’t. The other day is writing. You just sit at your laptop and tippity-tap all day in a giant room full of people who are just as stressed out as you are and try to remember all the stupid little rules you learned.
Then when you’re done, you have all this useless information in your head that never came up on the test and will never come up in your practice, but it’s there forever. And things you knew cold before you started studying? Gone. They were gone when you needed then on the test, and they’re gone forever, no matter how often you look them up.
Latest Answers